In February, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the time of the declaration of the staff already for this year, warned the Government of the need to have "in the future, greater attention with the deadlines provided", since the decree-law for 2020 had been approved only a few days before in the Council of Ministers, already in the course of the year itself.

Thus, and before the year is over, the Council of Ministers today approved the decree-law that sets the armed forces' staff for 2021, "considering the structural needs and activities envisaged" for that year. "This diploma is based on careful management, maintaining the already established reference of a maximum of 32,000 troops, and ensures an approximation to the structural needs and activities of the Armed Forces planned for the year 2020, capitalizing the departures and admissions", says the statement of the Council of Ministers. According to the executive, "it is thus guaranteed that the staff responds to the required operational capacity".